Penta's Rise to Top Guy, WWE's Roster Imbalance Exposed By KOTR and More Raw Fallout From Paris

The June 8 edition of WWE Raw on Netflix was a special night in the Accor Arena in Paris, featuring King and Queen of the Ring matches and an Intercontinental Championship clash.

Penta successfully defended his gold against Rey Mysterio before "All Ego" Ethan Page and Rusev attacked, stopped by Chad Gable.

Liv Morgan and Je'Von Evans won their tournament matches to advance to the semifinals, one step closer to a world title bout at SummerSlam.

WWE continues to take advantage of hot European crowds to deliver some of the best shows of the year. This year has set some important standards heading into the summer.

Penta Has Arrived as a Top WWE Star

When Penta arrived in WWE at the beginning of 2025, he was hyped as one of the best luchadors in the world after a strong but limited run in All Elite Wrestling.

It was clear even early on, though, that his flashy style was made for a WWE audience, even if his English was limited.

It was surprising that Penta did not win WWE gold until his second year, but he has quickly made a statement with his run as Intercontinental champion.

His title defenses against Rey Mysterio, "All Ego" Ethan Page, Dragon Lee and more have solidified his status as a workhorse performer.

Moreover, he has found universal fan support, making him the kind of household name that no other luchador in WWE has attained since The Master of the 619.

Penta is now at a point where his history in AEW feels like a distant footnote, and he will go down after a few more years as one of the best luchadors in WWE history.

KOTR Exposing Roster Disparity Between Raw and SmackDown

When WWE first revealed the King and Queen of the Ring brackets, the talent breakdown was even between Raw and SmackDown.

That 50-50 split has become completely lopsided after six of the eight qualifiers, though. Only Raw stars have advanced.

This week, Liv Morgan and Je'Von Evans followed Iyo Sky, Raquel Rodriguez, Oba Femi and Dominik Mysterio.

This is not entirely surprising looking at the talent set up in this tournament though.

While Raw was fielding Becky Lynch, Bayley, Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker as also-rans, SmackDown is relying on stars without much credibility built like Jacy Jayne, Kiana James, Ricky Saints and Talla Tonga.

Despite SmackDown running longer each week at three hours, Raw has the better roster across the board, relying on a few big names including Rhea Ripley, who made a switch to the blue brand after WrestleMania.

Even if Cody Rhodes remains one of WWE's top names and Charlotte Flair is a forever relevant number two to Ripley, SmackDown lacks the depth of Raw.

It may be time for WWE to consider bringing back the draft to shake things up again because lower-level names on Raw could be thriving on SmackDown while the red brand's Netflix spotlight could be used to make new stars.

Liv Morgan Must Lose Queen of the Ring

Andrew Timms/WWE via Getty Images

Liv Morgan

What is the point of Liv Morgan in the Queen of the Ring?

She has yet to defend her Women's World Championship since WrestleMania. In fact, this week was the first time she had wrestled on TV since the Raw after 'Mania.

Raw has plenty of interesting women that could have stepped up to Liv in the meantime from Iyo Sky and Becky Lynch to Bayley and Lyra Valkyria.

Instead, WWE has Liv telling everyone that the entire division is scared of her, and no one is refuting the claim.

If Liv wins Queen of the Ring and goes on to defeat Rhea Ripley at SummerSlam, she would unify the women's world titles for the first time in years.

This is a completely unnecessary move for a women's division that needs more spotlight on its talented undercard.

Lash Legend, Giulia, Fatal Influence and Blake Monroe are fresh names that should be doing more, and those are just a few of what should be the deepest and most talented women's roster in the world.

Liv should have never joined this tournament in the first place, but she especially cannot win as it would further highlight WWE's inability to book its women's division.

Sol Ruca Has Shaken Off the Nerves

The big talking point around Sol Ruca's arrival on Raw was hype. This was a woman who Triple H claimed would "change the business."

That is high praise that comes with major expectations.

Because of this, it was not a surprise that Ruca won the Women's Intercontinental Championship shortly after her Raw debut.

Perhaps it also should not have been a surprise that those expectations brought nerves and anxiety for a 26-year-old who only began wrestling in 2022.

Luckily, the early nerves and botches have subsided, and the champion has delivered in back-to-back title matches.

Her match with Lyra Valkyria solidified Ruca's standing in the company as one to watch closely.

She should hold the women's IC title for a while, but it would also not be surprising if she began contending for world championships by 2027.

Chad Gable Will Finally Win IC Title

Joe Maher/WWE via Getty Images

Chad Gable, Penta, Dragon Lee, and Rey Mysterio

Chad Gable has found success in WWE over a 10-plus-year career, but he has never had that title reign that could solidify him as one of WWE's top names.

That should change soon. As good as Penta has been as Intercontinental champion, a new champion is on the horizon.

Gable has fervently sought the Intercontinental Championship over the past few years, dating back to an incredible feud with Gunther in 2023.

Fans were ready for him to end The Ring General's historic reign, but he fell short and turned heel instead, setting the stage for his run as El Grande Americano.

While it looked to be a doomed run at the start, Gable made the most of his time and delivered an all-time great match at AAA Noche de Los Grandes to end that gimmick.

In the aftermath, he is even more popular and ready to be crowned as one of WWE's top workers. Gable as IC champion makes too much sense at this stage.

What will be even more interesting to watch is what happens after that reign. If Gable can keep his momentum as champion, could he even begin challenging for the world title in 2027?